{"id":299831,"date":"2026-02-19T21:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/299831\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T21:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:08:15","slug":"paratrooper-laid-to-rest-after-fatal-friendl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/299831\/","title":{"rendered":"Paratrooper laid to rest after fatal friendl"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 1,000 friends, relatives and acquaintances gathered Thursday at the cemetery in Moshav Hayogev in northern Israel\u2019s Jezreel Valley to attend the funeral of Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe, who was killed a day earlier by friendly fire<\/a> in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.<\/p>\n

Yafe, a soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade\u2019s reconnaissance unit, is survived by his parents, Hadas and Yiftach, and three siblings \u2014 Noy, Tzuf and Itamar.<\/p>\n

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\"\u05d4\u05dc\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5<\/a>\"\u05d4\u05dc\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe’s funeral <\/p>\n

(Photo: Gil Nechushtan, IDF)<\/p>\n

Lt. Col. Nevo De-Han, commander of the Paratroopers Brigade\u2019s reconnaissance unit, eulogized Ofri and said, \u201cI failed as a commander.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were given two missions in this maneuver in Gaza,\u201d he said. \u201cThe first was to destroy enemy infrastructure in the Khan Younis area, and in that mission we succeeded. The second mission was to bring the entire unit home safely. In that mission we failed. We failed as a unit and I failed as a commander. I am sorry we were not good enough to bring you back.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described his final conversations with Yafe, a soldier who had declined to attend officers\u2019 training in order to remain at the head of his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust two weeks ago we spoke about it again,\u201d De-Han said. \u201cI told him that someone like him had to be a commander in the reconnaissance unit. He simply told me, \u2018I am a person of giving, I have other missions.\u2019 A few hours before he fell I told him, \u2018Stay sharp.\u2019 He replied that the team was ready at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"\u05d4\u05dc\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5<\/a>\"\u05d4\u05dc\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe’s funeral <\/p>\n

(Photo: Gil Nechushtan)<\/p>\n

Despite the circumstances of his death, Ofri\u2019s family chose to send a message of support to the soldiers still fighting, even as he was laid to rest. De-Han said that while the unit was coping with the incident in the heart of Gaza and continuing efforts to destroy enemy infrastructure, a message arrived from his parents: \u201cWe love you and embrace you. We have no anger.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father, Yiftach Yafe, addressed the sniper team involved in the friendly fire incident directly in his eulogy. \u201cWe embrace the sniper and the entire team who found themselves in an illogical situation in an illogical place,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have no anger or blame toward you. You were and remain our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

He reserved his criticism for Israel\u2019s political leadership<\/a>. \u201cThe anger and blame are directed solely at the country\u2019s leadership, which sends the best of our sons on futile missions, after all our hostages have already returned home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His mother, Hadas, added: \u201cI still cannot comprehend it. For me, I am in a nightmare and any moment you will come and laugh at me for believing all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Yiftach and Hadas Yafe <\/p>\n

(Photo: Avihu Shapira)<\/p>\n

Yafe, a descendant of the founders of Moshav Hayogev, was a young entrepreneur who built and designed wooden furniture on the family farm. His aunt, Tzvia Gutman, spoke of dreams cut short.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had the mind of an entrepreneur \u2014 car restoration, pergolas, wood decks,\u201d she said. \u201cHe planned to conquer the world after his discharge this August. Instead of revival, you found your death on the cursed soil of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described him as a young man who \u201cdevoured life\u201d and said, \u201cYou were meant to be the material that rebuilds this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roni, his partner of five and a half years, stood by the grave and spoke of plans that ended in Khan Younis. \u201cWe\u2019ve been together since ninth grade, and we were supposed to be together forever,\u201d she said. Just two weeks earlier they had traveled in northern Israel. \u201cWe talked all night about fulfilling our dream of living together,\u201d she recalled, thanking him for his support. \u201cThank you for not leaving my side during the difficult year I went through. Thank you for teaching me what love is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Staff Sgt. Yafe was laid to rest, his father spoke to the ynet, after the parents had accused the state a day earlier of placing their sons in \u201cunnecessary situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe <\/p>\n

(Photo: IDF)<\/p>\n

\u201cOfri was a child who basically lived on the edge,\u201d his father said. \u201cHe always loved doing extreme things. He traveled a lot. He had a Jeep and drove everywhere \u2014 the Arava desert, the Golan Heights. That was always him. Parties, lots of friends. When you live on the edge, you live on the edge \u2014 but usually he didn\u2019t tell us anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yiftach said his son had carried an injury but continued to serve despite a recommendation that he undergo surgery. \u201cDuring paratroopers training he landed badly on a rock and injured his knee,\u201d he said. \u201cHe carried the pain for a long time but completed the course and excelled in basic training. A week and a half ago he had an orthopedic exam and they recommended surgery, but he wanted to stay with his team so he chose to return to Gaza. He also told Hadas he had bad feelings. He was a child who was never afraid of anything. That may have been one of his problems \u2014 he was not afraid of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that despite the parents\u2019 criticism of government policy, their views did not influence their son\u2019s decisions. \u201cOfri believed deeply in his team, in his friends. They were the closest thing to him,\u201d he said. \u201cIf his team went in, then he went in with them. There was no other option.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that their public statement reflected only his and his wife\u2019s views. \u201cWhat we said was our opinion alone,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did not ask Ofri and we did not ask our other children. We believe the government\u2019s current policy in Gaza is not the right policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The father emphasized that the family had no accusations against the military. \u201cWe have no pointing finger toward the army, any of its commanders, the Paratroopers Brigade or the reconnaissance unit,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are the best of our sons. They are our children, and we embrace them \u2014 including the sniper who was tragically involved in an incident that should not have happened. Our only criticism is why the best of our sons are inside the Gaza Strip when there are no hostages left and nothing more to achieve there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, criticizing the government: \u201cWhen there is no leadership and no strategy, this is the result. When you do not look at things holistically and correctly but in a populist way. Unfortunately this time it is us. We all hope Ofri will be the last casualty of this very unnecessary campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what Ofri would want to say to the nation at this difficult time, his father replied: \u201cVery simply. He would say, \u2018Be good to one another and love life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 1,000 friends, relatives and acquaintances gathered Thursday at the cemetery in Moshav Hayogev in northern Israel\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-299831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}